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Al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) claimed on October 28 that it had killed “Egyptian mercenaries” in the southwestern countryside of Syria’s Aleppo.
In a report, the Iba’a news agency said the “Egyptian mercenaries” were killed when the Artillery and Missile Regiment of HTS shelled two headquarters of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) near the town of Jzariyah.
“The shelling resulted in a number of dead and wounded, including Egyptian mercenaries,” the report reads.
In July, the Turkish Anadolu Agency reported that Egypt deployed 150 troops in Syrian region of Greater Idlib in order to support the SAA. According to the state-run agency, the Egyptian troops were sent to positions in western Aleppo and southern Idlib.
The Turkish accusations, which came at a time when Cairo and Ankara were engaged in a heated conflict over Eastern Mediterranean, were not confirmed.
HTS’ claims are most certainly false. No attacks on SAA positions in southwestern Aleppo were reported on October 28 or the day before.
These claims are likely meant to raise the low morale of the terrorist group’s supporters as well as to distract the public from the thousands of Syrian militants fighting as mercenaries for Turkey in Libya and Azerbaijan.
